Havana Kunda

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A havana is a peculiarity of Indian culture. A ritual whose origins lie in the Vedic age, havanas have been expounded in great detail in the Brhadaranyakopanishad, the largest of the thirteen principal Upanishads. Fire is an integral aspect of the same, wherein oblations are made and libations are poured. The kunda that you see on this page forms the seat of that raging fire, that all-consuming element wherein one immolates one’s ignorance, ego, attachments, aversions, and basic instinct.

It is a conical structure with a quadrilateral frustum for the base. Proof of the copper make lies in the pigmented golden colour of the kunda and its tough, papery texture. Traditionally, havanas differ greatly from the ritual of poojana - whereas poojana is simply worship, havana is a sacrifice. Whereas poojana is a profound and personal offering to a deity, havana is a solemn divulgence between jeevatma and paramatma. Whereas poojana is about attaining to the elusive balance of the sattva-rajas-tamas trifecta, havana is about transcending them.